The master Atisha, who arrived in Tibet in 1042 A.D., and taught there until his death thirteen years later, had an overwhelming effect on the Buddhism of Central Asia. His teachings sent waves through all orders of Tibetan Buddhism and left impressions that, a millennium later, continue to exert their influence.
The present year 1983, has been celebrated throughout India and Bangladesh as the 1,000th anniversary of Atisha's birth. In commemoration of this event Tibet House has compiled and published the present volume. It includes a short biography of Atisha by the fourteenth century scholar-saint Lama Tsong Khapa, as well as three texts by Atisha himself. The material is supplemented with a chapter by His Holiness the present Dalai Lama on the nature of the three higher trainings, essence of Atisha's teachings in Tibet.
This Volume contains four translations. The first of these is brief account of Atisha's life as given by Lama Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) in his Lam-Rim Chen-Mo. The final three are from the Jenjor collection known as A Hundred Minor Texts.